Oh historical fantasy, how I have missed you. Although I am a huge fan of
historical fiction, I haven't read any for a while.
Historical fantasy is such an inventive genre, and I love how it combines two of
my favorite genres. There's just something so exhilarating reading a book that
intermixes the historical with the fantastical. After reading the synopsis of
Robin LaFevers' Grave Mercy, I knew that this was something I had to
read, and I am glad I did.
Grave Mercy takes place in the Duchy of Brittany, a small
independent northern region of France, during the late fifteenth century. Ismae Rienne has not had a great childhood — she is the product of a failed abortion after her
parents found her mother to be pregnant with the god of death's child. Already
conscious about how little value her parents placed upon her life, Ismae also
bears scars from the poisons that failed to kill her and is physically abused by
her father. Her life does not seem like it will get any better through an
arranged marriage, but hours after the wedding she is whisked away to a secret
convent where nuns act as the handmaidens of Saint Mortain, the god of death.
There Ismae finds a greater purpose in her life, learning how to serve Mortain
through poison lore, seduction, weaponry, and how to administer the god's
justice to (mainly male) victims.
Ismae is eager to try her training out in the world, and her first and
second assignments more or less go to plan. For her third assignment, however,
Ismae finds herself far out of her league. She is asked to attend court as the
mistress of Duval, a noble with a strong distrust for Ismae and her convent in
general. At court she must uphold her duties of Mortain and protect both the
duchess and independence of Brittany.
Historical fantasies have the potential to be wonderful stories on so many
levels, and Grave Mercy definitely upheld my expectations for the
genre. LaFevers put in the research necessary to situate this novel within
a very real place and era. It was a very visual book, and I loved all
the descriptions of clothing, rooms, and the general atmosphere. I felt like I
could imagine the culture at least a little, which is not easy to do. From
my brief Wikipedia forays, I was able to confirm some historical aspects about
Brittany that were present within the novel, as well as some information
about its rulers (more on that later). I've always found it simply amazing when
authors are able to bring to life certain events and settings and then infuse them
with their own stories and characters. From this perspective, the book was very
well done.
For the most part I liked Ismae's character. Ismae endured a very difficult
life before the convent took her in, but once there Ismae doesn't seem to have
quite the amount of struggles with self-worth and doubt that I would have expected. Part of the reason
behind that may be that the novel skips ahead three years after Ismae's been in
the convent for only a short time, but even past that I felt that there are aspects Ismae's character is lacking. But there are many, many aspects of Ismae
that are just a delight to read: she's fierce, determined, and the daughter of
death himself. And she does undergo a transformation and is able to question
previously assumed knowledge. I always love a rational heroine willing to
question the way things are.
The romance between Ismae and Duval, while expected, was also quite
satisfying to read. For as much as I hate insta-love romances, I absolutely
adore slow-burn ones where the characters start with enmity and
misunderstanding. And, although Ismae and Duval have a common goal in seeing
Anne crowned as the Duchess of Brittany, their relationship definitely fits this
bill. Their relationship changes from one of misunderstanding and disgust
(albeit one of mutual goals), to one where they really start to see the other
person as a legitimate person, one with passions, personality, and, yes, flaws.
Although I will say that this one pivotal scene that really establishes them in
a relationship made me roll my eyes quite a bit. But they still form a very
enjoyable relationship that I was willing to cheer for.
My main issue, however, is related to the romance I quite enjoyed reading.
As a friend of mine recently explained, the novel is kind of divided. There's
the beginning part where Ismae is at the convent and completes her first two
missions, and that section is all about female empowerment. And then Ismae
is taken to court to protect the Duchess of Brittany's claim to the throne,
under the guise of being Duval's mistress. In this second half of the novel,
female empowerment takes a back seat to many other aspects of the book. The
political intrigue, for instance. And also the romance, which is a little
unfortunate. Ismae has so much power in the eyes of her convent and her god,
yet at some instances she inexplicably becomes much meeker and even
second-guesses herself. I realize that she has been introduced into a world with
which she's unfamiliar. But I still would have liked to see a little more awesome female empowerment in the second half than there actually is.
I usually don't really focus on secondary characters outside of love
interest in my reviews, but I have to take a minute to appreciate a few of the
wonderful secondary characters. Anne is probably my favorite character from this book. Anne of
Brittany was also an actual historical person whose hand was indeed sought by many suitors. How awesome is that? I also enjoyed learning a little about Ismae's fellow
acolytes Annith and Sybella. Based on the promotional blurb for Dark Triumph, it
sounds as though Sybella is the protagonist. If that's so, then I'd love for
Annith to be the protagonist of the final book. I'm curious to learn what
mysterious mission Sybella had for the entirety of this book, and I'd love the
chance to see what her inner mind is like. Annith was not in much of Grave
Mercy, but I really liked what I've seen of her so far and since she was so
incredibly sidelined in this book, it would be nice for her to have her own
experiences. Although I enjoyed reading about Ismae, I am excited by the
possibility of the following novels allowing us to further expand the world of
Brittany and learn more about other characters.
There were a few issues I had here and there with Grave Mercy, but
overall it was a very enjoyable read. I don't think it's possible for me to
resist a well-constructed historical fantasy full of political intrigue and a
slow-burning romance.
